Containerized production of poultry

ABSTRACT

A method for the containerized production of poultry wherein within the same cage poultry is transported from the hatchery, raised from a chick to a grown bird (either layers or broilers) and transported to the processor or egg-producing farm. Preferably the cage utilized in the process has two adjacent feeding sides formed by a mesh of two different sized openings. The cage is rotated 90* when the chicks reach a certain age, so as to retain the chicks for their entire growth, allowing the cage to be shipped with and without birds from hatchery to grower to processor, and back to the hatchery respectively. An adjustable feed trough sidewall extension allows the trough to be enlarged as the birds grow.

i111 ttes tett Van 1111.119 1 Jan 18, 1972 s41 CONTAINERIZED PRODUUHUNU1 1,785,858 12/1930 Davis ..119/17 POULTRY 1,973,530 9/1934 Hart..119/17 3,478,721 11/1969 Maxfield .11 19/18 [72] Inventor: Robert L.Van ll-lluls, Zealand, Mich.

[73] Assignee: U.S. Industries, llnc., New York, NY. Primary -H gh R- hmblee [22] Filed: a 26, 70 Attorney-Price, Heneveld, Huizenga & Cooper[21] App1.No.: 30,610 [57] ABSTRACT Related Us Application Dam A methodfor the containerized production of poultry wherein wlthm the same cagepoultry is transported from the hatchery, [60] f l f 9f 7861177 1399-raised from a chiclt to a grown bird (either layers or broilers) 1968 ofSen 8271220 May 231 1969- and transported to the processor oregg-producing farm. Preferably the cage utilized in the process has twoadjacent [52] ILLS. C1 ..l19/17, 1 19/18 feeding Sides formed by a meshof two different Sized [51] v "Aolk 31/00 openings. The cage is rotated90 when the chicks reach a cer- [58] o earth 19/17 48 tain age, so as toretain the chicks for their entire growth, at]- lowing the cage to beshipped with and without birds from [56] References Cited hatchery togrower to processor, and back to the hatchery UNITED STATES PATENTSrespectively. An adjustable feed trough sidewall extension al' lows thetrough to be enlarged as the birds grow. 1,413,458 4/1922 Collis..119/18 1,733,382 10/1929 McCurdy ..119/17 4 Cflaims, 11 Drawing,Figures PATENTED JAN? 8 1972 SHEET 1 [IF 3 HATCHERY GROWER PQOCESSOR LAYER HOUSE FIG. 4

INVENTOR ROBERT L. VAN HUIS WWW ATTORNEYS PATEN TED JAN? 8 I972 SHEET 2UP 3 INVENTOR ROBERT L. VAN"'HUIS ATTORNEYS PATENTEU JAN: 8 E2 SHEET 3[IF 3 INVENTOR ROBERT L. VAN HUIS WQW ATTORNEYS CONTAINERIZED PRODUCTIONOF POULTRY RELATED APPLICATION This application is acontinuation-in-part of my copending application Ser. No. 786,177, filedDec. 23, 1968 and a divisional of Ser. No. 827,220 filed May 23, 1969.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In the poultry industry at the present timea substantial number of poultry are raised in cages to maturity for useas either broilers or layers. However, a great problem has existed ingrowing and handling the poultry at various stages of their growth. Forexample, although some complicated cages have been devised for growingpoultry from chick to maturity, a majority of poultry is still raised inbarns from chicks to a small bird. Then they are moved as small birds tocages and raised to maturity. The layers are then moved to still othercages in which they produce eggs. The broilers are moved to crates andtransported to processing plants. In all such cases the original smallchick is transported in boxes from which they are required to be movedto the barn or the said complicated cages. In all cases a problem hasexisted in that the poultry have to be handled several times before theyarrive at the place where they ultimately are to be used as either abroiler or a layer. This handling is particularly a problem when oneconsiders large poultry operations involving over 50,000 to 100,000birds and the requirement that each. squirming, fluttering and nervousbird requires careful handling.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In accordance with this invention, I haveconceived a method whereby the amount of handling of poultry from chickto processing plant or layer house is substantially reduced to thehandling of the chick at the hatchery andthe mature bird at theprocessing plant. In the case of layers my method requires only thehandling of the chick at the hatchery and at the laying house. I haveaccomplished this reduction in handling by conceiving of the methodwhereby a cage capable of being transported or shipped without removalof the poultry is provided while at the same time said cage is madecapable of allowing complete growth of poultry from chick to maturity.This cage is utilized by first being shipped to the hatchery where thechick is placed in the cage. The chicks are then shipped while in thecages to the grower, where they grow to maturity. At maturity thepoultry are shipped while in the same cage to the processor, in the caseof broilers, and to a layer'house in the case of layers. After thepoultry are either processed or expend their useful laying life, thecages are sent back to the hatchery to repeat the above said steps.

Preferably this method utilizes a novel cage removably mounted andsupported by a cage stand, which cage will allow the complete growth ofpoultry and the shipment of the same without removal of the poultry fromthis cage, thus providing a containerized production of the poultry. Thecage which allows the chick to be retained is designed to allow the sizeof the mesh at the feeding side of the cage to be enlarged as the birdgets larger so as to continue the ability of the bird to reach the feed.One construction for accomplishing this involves a cage with adjacentwire mesh sides, one of which has openings with a width considerablyless than that of the width of the other side so as to allow the chickto eat without getting out of the cage as would happen if the largeropenings of the other adjacent side were used.

Because the cages must be shipped containing the birds therein, 1 haveprovided on the cage stand means for readily removing the cages. Thus,during certain stages of the processing of the birds the stand must becapable of standing without support from the cages, and I have soconstructed it. Although cage stands have been constructed, in the pastto be independent from the cages for support, such as, for example, US.Pat. No. 3,274,972, these stands have not been designed to readilyremove the cage once the cages are installed. The cages in said U.S.Patent No. 3,274,972 cannot be removed without dismantling some of thestand.

Because the bird stays in the same cage for its entire life, provisionmust be made for adjusting the size of the feeding trough. Accordingly,I have developed as part of the cage stand and independent of the cages,a barrier means that cooperates with the feed trough to enable it to beenlarged, the barrier means being supported with the trough on a frameseparate from the cage of the invention. This adjustable barrier meanswas first described and claimed in my aforesaid application.

Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide a method ofgrowing and processing poultry wherein the physical handling of thebirds is greatly reduced.

It is an additional object of this invention to provide a cage capableof both accommodating poultry through their entire growth and of beingshipped-with or without poultry without damaging the cage.

It is a further object to provide a cage of the above character whichallows the size of the openings on the feeding side of the cage to bealtered without the cage being affected by rough handling such as wouldoccur in shipping.

It is still another object to providea cage of the above character thatis a simple shape and size for shipping.

It is a related object to provide a cage of the above character which isinexpensive to manufacture.

It is still another related object to provide a feed trough for use withthe above cage which is adjustable in size.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent uponreference to the following drawings an detailed discussion.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. I is a partially fragmentedperspective view of a cage utilized in my invention illustrating theposition of the cage during the growing of baby chicks.

FIG. 2 is a partial perspective view similar to FIG. 1 except that thecage has been rotated and occupies the position for the feeding of thebirds when they are more fully grown;

FIG. 3 is an end elevation, partly schematic, illustrating the use ofthe cage and the feed trough of my invention in conjunction with feedingand watering means;

FIG. 4 is a schematic view illustrating the process of containerizedproduction of poultry which is now available due to the use of my cage;

FIG. 5 is a fragmentary perspective view, partially broken away, of thefeed stand utilizing the feed trough sidewalls extension of theinvention;

FIG. 6 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line VIVI of FIG.3;

FIG. 7 is a fragmentary sectional view taken along the line VIIVII ofFIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is an end elevational view illustrating an alternate embodimentof the feed trough sidewalll extension;

FIG. 9 is a plan view of the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 1

FIG. 10 is a perspective view illustrating still another embodiment ofthe feed trough sidewall extension; and

FIG. 11 is a side elevational view of one row of cages mountedside-by-side.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Within the broadest aspect of myinvention I have provided a method for raising and transporting poultryprevious to processing or laying as briefly described above. In order tofully understand and appreciate this broad aspect of my invention I willfirst describe a novel cage preferably utilized in my method. It shouldbe understood that this cage is utilized in the growth of poultry in anyconventional poultry house. Each cage is removably placed on a stand,such as that illustrated by reference numeral 10 (FIG. 3), so that aplurality of cages run along both sides of a feed trough 35 into whichfeed is conveyed by a conventional chain II. The stand illustrated insFIG. 3 comprises vertical legs l2 joined to a frame formed by two setsof horizontal bars 13 and 15, by the latter of which the cages aresupported. One set of bars 13 and I5 are positioned below both ends ofthe cage. As discussed below, I have constructed the stand and trough 35in accordance with the invention so that there are no parts thereofrelying upon the cage for support, and so that there are no parts whichimpede such removal of the cage or requires that the stand and/or troughwith their attendant parts be dismantled. It will be noted (FIGS. 1 and10) that the cages are separate and independent one from the other andtherefore are removable separately and independently. Further, as willbe described the cages are self-supporting and self-sustainable therebynot requiring any part of the stand to hold the cage together.

Watering can be accomplished by any device, such as waterlines withnipples 14 running alongside thereof. Whatever the device, it can beadjustably mounted either on the mechanism 36 or the cage so that theycan be adjusted for watering different sized birds, but preferably onthe mechanism 36. As will be described in more detail hereinafter, thefeed troughs are made adjustable for different size birds. The droppingsof the poultry are conventionally collected in pits 18 under the cageswhich are periodically cleaned automatically by conventional means.

CAGE

In accordance with one aspect of my invention, the preferred cage whichprovides the containerized production of the poultry is a rectangulatedenclosure 20 having an open wire mesh at least on two adjacent sides,preferably formed by wire rods 22, 24, 26 and 28 or the like that aremutually interconnected such as by welding, and having comer braces 21.The cage illustrated as an example utilizes wire mesh on all sides.

To provide for the continued feeding and watering of a bird as it growsolder, the opening of the mesh is specially constructed on two adjacentsides so that a baby chick can reach the feed trough (which will bedescribed in more detail hereinafter) and the watering stations 14 whichrun alongside of the cage (FIG. 3) without getting out of the cage, andas a grown bird can reach the same feed trough and watering stationsthrough the larger openings when the cage is rotated 90. Specifically,the vertical ribs 22 (FIG. 1) are spaced apart at a considerably lessdistance than are the ribs 24 on the top, so as to provide a feedingopening for the baby chicks having a width considerably less than thatof the opening formed by ribs 24. The exact dimensions can varydepending upon the size of the poultry which are grown in the cage, butthe width formed by the ribs 22 should in no case be less thanseveneighths inch and in no case be as large as the width of the openingformed by the ribs 24 which in turn should not exceed 2 inches. Also,the age of the poultry at which the cage is rotated 90 so as to bringthe ribs 24 down into a vertical position facing the feed trough 12(FIG. 3) obviously depends on the particular poultry being grown, theonly requirement being that the bird be too large to get out through theribs 24.

CAGE SUPPORTS Inasmuch as the cage is rotated 90 and otherwise must bereadily removable, I have constructed the feed trough and its relatedstructure so that it is mounted independently of the cage. Because smallchicks need a shallow trough while big birds need a deep one to preventthe scattering of feed, it is necessary that the trough size beadjustable also. Accordingly, I have fixed the trough 35 to the frame,and to allow the trough sidewalls 37 to be increased in height, Iprovide a mechanism 36 mounted on the frame. The mechanism 36 ismounted, for example, as illustrated in FIGS. 5 and 6, on the outsidesurface 38 of the sidewalls 37, this embodiment utilizing a verticallyextending bar 39 which is bent in the shape of a U so as to bridge andattach to both sidewalls 37. The bent bar 39 has three pairs ofperforations or cutouts 40, 42 and 44, hereinafter explained. A barrierplate 48 is provided for positioning above each sidewall 37, the platehaving an end 50 wrapped around the leg 52 of the bar 39 formed by theperforation 42, to allow the barrier plate to be slid up and down withrespect to the vertical bar 39. The perforation or cutout 40 adjacent tothe perforation 42 is utilized in the same fashion for a similar barrierif another cage is placed adjacent to the end of the cage 20 illustratedin FIG. 3. To hold both the barrier plates in a fixed vertical relationor position with respect to the sidewall 37 of the trough, a verticalbar 54 is welded to both ends of each barrier plate. To allow bothvertical bars 54 to extend up through the U-shaped vertical bar 39, thelatter is formed with still another pair of cutouts 56. To hold itsbarrier plate 48 approximately 2 inches above the top edge of thesidewall 37, the vertical bar 54 is provided with a tab 58. The barrierplate occupies this position when the baby chicks have reached an agewhere they cannot escape out through the long dimension of the openingformed by the wires 22 and 30, namely the vertical dimension. Prior tothat age, the barrier plate is lowered so that the bottom edge of theplate is only seven-eighths inch above the tab 58. In this position theplate 48 acts as a barrier to prevent the chick from escaping outthrough the long dimension of the opening formed by the rods 22 and 30.When the vertical bar is so positioned with the tab 59 resting on thebottom edge of the cutout 56 to obtain the Ma-inch spacing of thebarrier plate from the sidewall 37, the tab 58 projects into the cutout44, the cutout 44 having the sole purpose of accommodating the tabs 58and 59 when they are not being utilized to hold the barrier plate up.The final positioning of the barrier plate is accomplished by loweringit until it rests on the top edge of the sidewall, this being done whenthe chicks reach the age at which the cage is to be rotated in themanner described above. The barrier plate 48 thus acts, in thisposition, as a wall extension for the sidewall 37, which extensionserves both to hold more food for the larger birds and to prevent thelarger birds from flipping with their beaks the feed over the sides ofthe trough.

To connect the two barrier plates 48 and their vertically extending bars54 together so that both sides of the trough have the barrier plates thesame distance above the sidewalls, an end plate 60 is welded to the twovertically extending bars 54. It will be readily apparent that in theevent it is desired that the spacing of the barrier plates on the twosides of the trough not be the same, the end plate 60 can be eliminated.

FIGS. 8 and 9 illustrate alternate embodiments for the mechanismsupporting the barrier plate. The parts in these embodiments whichcorrespond to those previously described have the same referencenumerals to which the distinguishing suffixes a and b have been added.Thus, in FIG. 8 the stand 10a comprises legs 12a and a horizontalsupport bar 15a. A vertically extending rod 39a is welded to the outsidesurface of the sidewalls 37. Or it can be fixed to the frame on the bar15a. The barrier plate 48a is welded to a C-shaped element 62 perforatedat both ends to slide up and down over the rod 39a. To clamp the element62 and the barrier plate 48a, in any desired position, a spring clamp 64is welded to the element 62 and is provided with perforations throughwhich passes the rod 390. It will be readily apparent that the rod 39aneed not be cylindrical but can be a bar strip as well, the perforationsin the element 62 and the clamp 64 being modified accordingly. Theembodiment illustrated in FIGS. 8 and 9 includes an illustration of anadditional modification in the support of the cages. A vertical supportbar 63 is fixed to each of the two bars 15a, the bar being positioned inback of the cage when the latter is installed. A hook bar 65 extendsfrom and is attached to both of the bars 63 to engage one of the rodsforming the wire mesh of the cage, hooks 67 are positioned along the bar65. To rotate or remove the cage, it is merely lifted up to disengagethe hooks from the cage. It will be readily apparent that other forms ofsupport for the back of the cage are possible, provided that the cagecan be readily removed therefrom such as by lifting it.

In the embodiment illustrated in FIG. 10, the vertically extending bar39b mounted on support bar 15b is provided with three sets of openingsor perforations 56b, these being distinguished vertically by a prime forthe middle opening or perforation, as 56b, and a double prime for thetopmost opening, as 56b". To hold the barrier plates 48b in a fixedvertical position above the sidewall 37, a barrier plate vertical bar Mbis welded to the plate and has a lanced tab 58b cooperatively shaped toextend through any of the openings or perforations 56b. To assist inlifting the barrier plate so that the tab 58b is lifted out of theopenings 56b, a curved handle 66 is formed on the bar 54b. Thus, if thebarrier plate 48b is to sit on top of the top edge of the sidewall 37,the tab 581: is inserted into the lowermost opening 56b. If the spacingbetween the bottom edge of the barrier plate 48b and the top edge of thesidewall 37 is to be seven-eighths inch, the tab is inserted in themiddle opening 56b. Finally, if the spacing desired between the bottomedge of the barrier plate and the top edge of the sidewall is 2 inches,such as for a chick in the intermediate stage, the tab 58b is insertedthrough the opening 56b As a specific example of the use of the cage forsmall and large birds, newly hatched leghom roosters were placed in acage occupying the position shown in FIG. ll, the cage being 24 incheslong, 14 inches high, and inches wide. Except for the ribs 24 and theribs 26 which form one feeding side of the cage, the wire rods formingthe cage were of gauge 14. The rods forming the ribs 24 and 26 were ofgauge 12. The sizes of the openings in the mesh were as follows: for thesides forming the ends 27 of the bottom 28 of the cage (FIG. 2) squareopenings having a 1-inch dimension were used; for the feeding sidedefined by vertical ribs 22 and by their cooperating horizontal ribs 30,the openings were 1 inch X2 inches; for the second feeding side definedby the ribs 24 and 26, the openings were 1% inches X 4 inches. The cagewas not rotated from the position shown in FIG. l to the position shownin FIG. 2 until the chicks had reached the age of 2 weeks. The number ofchicks in a cage of this nature can vary, particularly when differenttypes of chicks are used, but in this instance, 12 chicks per cage wascommon.

CONTAINERIZED PRODUCTION In accordance with still another aspect of myinvention, the above said cage and cage support allow the practicing ofmy method forming the broadest aspect of my invention. The cage is takento a hatchery where one or more newly hatched chicks are placed in thecage through gate 132, for example, formed by l2-gauge wires 135 hingedat 134. The cage containing the chicks is then shipped to a grower whoretains the birds within the cage throughout their entire growth duringwhich time the birds are fed and watered in the cage by means of thefeed trough 35 and watering devices 14. Initially the barrier 48 is inits-intermediate position. As the chicks get larger so that they can notescape through the mesh formed by ribs 22 and 36, the barrier is raisedto the uppermost position. When the birds reach the appropriate size,the cage is rotated 90,one time to change the size of the opening forthe feeding and the watering, and the barrier plate is lowered intocontact with the sidewalls 37. Specifically, when the chicks have theproper size, namely, the size when they cannot get out between the ribs24 and 26, the larger openings formed by the ribs 24 and 26 comprisingthe top of the cage when the chicks are first inserted is rotated intoposition beside the feeding trough. After the birds are fully grown theyare shipped by shipping them in that cage to a processing plant wherethey are released for processing, and the empty cage is then shippedback to a hatchery for a new batch of poultry, after which the precedingsteps are repeated so that the cage goes through a continuous cycle ofgrowth and processing of poultry. In the case of hens, the mature birdsare shipped in their cages to a layer house where they spend theremainder of their lives. Thereafter the cages are returned to thehatchery.

Thus, it can be seen that the simplicity of the construction of the cageof my invention is what allows the cage to be shipped so as to obtainthe containerized production of the poultry. A more complex constructionwould suffer the disadvantages of being damaged so as not to be able toaccommodate a growing chick. In addition, it is this simple constructionwhich also makes the cage less expensive to construct than would be acomplex design.

While the invention has been described in connection with the preferredembodiments, it will be understood that I do not intend to limit theinvention to that described. For example, a cage having other than sixsides could be used. Therefore, I intend to cover all alternatives,modifications, and equivalents, as may be included within the spirit andscope of the invention as defined by the following claims.

The embodiments of the invention in which an exclusive property orprivilege is claimed are defined as follows:

1. A cage for the containerized growth of poultry comprismg:

a box formed by wire mesh on at least two sides;

one of said wire mesh sides having openings with a width less than theopenings of said other wire mesh side whereby said one side will retainchicks of small size but will not permit a mature bird to feedtherethrough and said other side will not retain chicks of small sizebut its openings are sufficiently large to permit a mature bird to feedtherethrough.

2. A cage for the containerized growth of poultry comprismg:

a box formed by wire mesh on at least two sides;

one of said sides having openings with a width less than 2 inches; and

another of said sides having openings with a width con' siderably lessthan that of said one side but no less than seven-eighths of an inch.

3. The cage as defined in claim 2 wherein said one and said other sidesare adjacent to each other.

41. The cage as defined in claim 3 wherein the openings of said otherside are no wider than the width of 1 inch.

1. A cage for the containerized growth of poultry comprising: a boxformed by wire mesh on at least two sides; one of said wire mesh sideshaving openings with a width less than the openings of said other wiremesh side whereby said one side will retain chicks of small size butwill not permit a mature bird to feed therethrough and said other sidewill not retain chicks of small size but its openings are sufficientlylarge to permit a mature bird to feed therethrough.
 2. A cage for thecontainerized growth of poultry comprising: a box formed by wire mesh onat least two sides; one of said sides having openings with a width lessthan 2 inches; and another of said sides having openings with a widthcOnsiderably less than that of said one side but no less thanseven-eighths of an inch.
 3. The cage as defined in claim 2 wherein saidone and said other sides are adjacent to each other.
 4. The cage asdefined in claim 3 wherein the openings of said other side are no widerthan the width of 1 inch.